Tag: peregrine

Police investigate ‘illegally killed’ peregrine near Stirling

Police Scotland have launched an investigation after the discovery of a dead peregrine which they say has been ‘illegally killed’.

The cause of death has not been reported.

The dead four year old bird was found by raptor study group fieldworkers at Cambusbarron Quarry, near Stirling, on 15th April 2014.

The local police wildlife crime officer said that Police Scotland takes raptor persecution “very seriously” and will be working with the Scottish Raptor Study Group, RSPB Scotland, and members of the local community to identify the criminal responsible.

As we all know, it’s extremely unlikely that the criminal will be identified, let alone brought to justice, but it’s good to see Police Scotland put out a timely press release, and although the cause of death hasn’t been revealed (perhaps for tactical purposes?), at least this time they haven’t gone all cryptic and said ‘it didn’t die of natural causes’.

The bigger picture, of course, is the on-going illegal persecution of birds of prey. Here’s yet another example, hot on the heels of the Ross-shire Massacre, and the poisoned peregrine at Leadhills, demonstrating that raptor persecution is still happening with alarming regularity, 70 years after it became a criminal offence.

Full details in the Courier here.

Peregrine photo by Martin Eager.

A sad morons’ coalition

Some stuff:

1. The Moorland Association (representative body of grouse moor owners in England & Wales) has commissioned some ‘research’ which, they claim, shows that ‘merlin thrive on grouse moors’ (see here). The quality of this ‘research’ was ably shredded by a commentator called ‘Rich’ on Mark Avery’s blog a few weeks ago (see here). Now another blogger, Steve Mills, has written an excellent piece about the so-called ‘protection’ of raptor species on driven grouse moors. Read it here.

For anagram fans: Moorland Association / A sad morons coalition.

2. There’s an article just published in the Holyrood magazine about the illegal poisoning of raptors in Scotland, including an interview with RSPB Scotland’s Duncan Orr-Ewing, who suggests that raptor persecution levels on Scottish grouse moors are at similar levels to those of the Victorian era. Read it here.

There have been various responses to the article on Twitter from the great and the good:

From Doug McAdam, CEO of Scottish Land & Estates (the landowners’ representative body):

“Raptor crime unacceptable but article and assertions not supported by evidence“.

From Daye Tucker, Director at Scottish Land & Estates:

“Without wishing to defend indefensible, that claim [that persecution is at Victorian levels] is so beyond exaggeration“.

From Adam Smith, Director GWCT (Scotland):

“All condemn recent appalling non-moor raptor killing but most opinions in story not evidence led“.

These are all interesting responses/denials, especially in relation to item 3:

3. The PAW Scotland Raptor Group has today issued what it describes as a ‘united’ statement of condemnation over the recent mass poisoning of red kites and buzzards in Ross-shire. Also included in this statement is the following:

“The Group recognised that more needs to be done to strengthen the message that all forms of raptor persecution are completely unacceptable. The Group will ensure that this message is heard throughout Scotland and is strongly and publicly supported by all bodies representing land use, field sports and conservation.  The Group agreed to set up a short life working group to make recommendations as to how to deliver a strong message that commands wide support and is focused on preventing raptor persecution. The aim is to encourage all those with any information about such illegal practices to report this to the police“. Read the full statement here.

Both Scottish Land & Estates and the GWCT are members of the PAW Raptor Group. Can’t wait to see how they’re going to reconcile their denials about the extent of raptor persecution and turn it in to “a strong message that commands wide support and is focused on preventing raptor persecution”.

It’ll also be fascinating to see how the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association (also a PAW Raptor Group member) “encourages all those with any information about such illegal practices to report this to the police” when their own policy advice to their members is to say nothing to the police except to give their name, address and date of birth, if asked.

Interesting to note that the PAW Scotland Raptor Group failed to provide any condemnation about the poisoned peregrine found recently in the Leadhills area. Can’t think why.

That poisoned peregrine at Leadhills

Leadhills peregrine Sunday Express April 2014Last week we blogged about a poisoned peregrine that had been found in the Leadhills area of South Lanarkshire and the alleged response of Police Scotland and the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) to the incident (see here).

There have now been some official responses.

The NWCU has stated: “Formal operational procedures have been followed throughout and whilst the investigation is on-going further comment is inappropriate. The investigation is being conducted with utmost care, and third-party reports in the media of improper conduct are wholly uninformed” (see here for full statement).

NWCU has chosen to use the ‘it’s an on-going investigation so we can’t comment’ card. Quite how explaining their response to an initial telephone call would impact on an investigation is unclear, but there you have it. Transparency and accountability don’t seem to be high on the agenda.

Police Scotland are quoted in an article that was published in the Sunday Express yesterday: “There was no suggestion from the person reporting the dead bird that it had been poisoned or appeared in any way suspicious, and we responded accordingly“. The article can be read here: Leadhills peregrine Sunday Express April 2014

The member of the public who reported the dead peregrine to the police has told us they are furious with this response and they have put in a complaint to Police Scotland. They argue that Police Scotland are well aware of the long history of raptor persecution in the area: 45 reported incidents since 2003, and of those, 34 incidents involved the poison Carbofuran – the same poison that killed this peregrine. Of course the discovery of this poisoned peregrine was suspicious – how could it not be?

The member of the public also told us about the ‘on-going investigation’. The police contacted this person to advise of their theory about who might have poisoned the bird (we can’t publish that theory but it’s quite astonishing). The member of the public asked the police officer whether they needed a statement about the discovery of the dead bird: they said ‘no’.

That’s that then. The Untouchables: 45. Justice: 0.

 

Official statements about the Leadhills poisoned peregrine

Following on from Saturday’s blog post about the poisoned peregrine that was found in the Leadhills area and the appalling response from the police (see here), we expected to read some official statements today from the likes of Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse, PAW Scotland, Police Scotland, National Wildlife Crime Unit, Scottish Land & Estates, the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association etc etc.

Here’s what we found:

NOTHING.

Why did we expect a response? Well, partly because of all the rhetoric we’ve been fed over the past few years about how stamping out wildlife crime is a priority for Police Scotland, for the Government, for SLE, for the SGA etc etc, and partly because this particular incident is number 45 on a long list of other raptor persecution incidents reported from the Leadhills area since 2003 (and we know there are many more incidents that went unrecorded because we’ve reported some of them ourselves!).

We know that over 50 of you have emailed the Minister (thank you) to demand some specific action, including an inquiry into PC Everitt’s alleged refusal to accept this incident was probably a wildlife crime, and to insist that SNH now use their new powers to restrict the use of General Licences in the Leadhills area.

The Minister has 20 working days in which to respond. For those of us who wrote to him over the weekend, that means he has to respond by 2nd May 2014. However, we know from previous incidents that the Minister usually waits until the very last day of that 20-working day period before he actually does respond. If we were cynics we would think that these delayed responses were designed to ‘wait out’ the public’s anger which will probably have subsided by the time the 20 working day deadline has expired.

We also know from past experience that the Minister will likely tell us that he can’t comment about Police Scotland procedures (e.g. “it’s a police matter and it would be inappropriate for me to comment”) and that he can’t comment about the potential withdrawal of General Licences (e.g. “it’s an SNH matter and it would be inappropriate for me to respond”).

He might surprise us but none of us are expecting him to. So, in anticipation of a feeble, question-dodging response, we thought we’d bypass him and go directly to those agencies ourselves.

If any of you are also interested in doing this, here are some useful contact details:

To find out why Police Scotland and the NWCU failed to act when this crime was reported to them, there are three key players to contact –

The Police Scotland Wildlife Crime Portfolio is led strategically by Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham. Email: Acc.CrimeMCPP@scotland.pnn.police.uk

Police Scotland Wildlife Crime Portfolio Lead Officer is Det. Sup. Cameron Cavin. Email: Cameron.Cavin@scotland.pnn.police.uk

Police Scotland Wildlife Crime Coordinator is Sgt. Andrew Mavin. Email: Andrew.Mavin@scotland.pnn.police.uk

We’re sure all three gentlemen would love to have the opportunity to explain what happened (or more to the point, why nothing happened) and how their failure to respond fits in with their much-publicised approach to tackling wildlife crime (see here for details).

To ask SNH whether they will be enacting the new enabling clause in the 2014 General Licences and thus restricting their use in the Leadhills area, contact the Chief Executive of SNH, Ian Jardine. Email: ian.jardine@snh.gov.uk

We’re still interested in what the Environment Minister has to say about it all, of course. For those of you who haven’t yet emailed him to demand robust action, here’s his email address: Ministerforenvironment@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

They might all think that by keeping quiet for a few days we’ll all forget about it and move on to something else. They’d be pretty stupid to think so.

Poisoned peregrine found nr Leadhills boundary: police response appalling

Peregrine poisoned Leadhills Feb 2014In the middle of February, a member of the public found a dead adult peregrine falcon in suspicious circumstances close to the boundary of Leadhills Estate in South Lanarkshire.

The person who found it immediately ‘phoned Police Scotland and asked them to attend. The person was told that it wasn’t a police matter. The person queried that response and asked the Police to double check. The Police said ‘No, definitely not a police matter, call the RSPB’.

The member of the public was clued-up enough to know that it wasn’t an SSPCA matter because the bird was already dead (and therefore the SSPCA had no powers to investigate). So the person called the RSPB for help.

According to information provided to us by the member of the public, the RSPB called the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and spoke to PC Charlie Everitt, who allegedly told them it wasn’t a police matter as there was no evidence of a crime having been committed. The RSPB asked if they could retrieve the corpse and permission was granted (this permission is needed for any RSPB-collected evidence to be admissible in a future criminal case, as the RSPB do not have any investigatory powers).

The RSPB collected the dead peregrine and submitted it for a post-mortem and it then went on to SASA for toxicology analysis.

We’ve been waiting to hear the results of those tests before we blogged about the incident.

Yesterday the results were made public – the peregrine had been poisoned (the name of the poison has not been released). However, the news didn’t come in the form of an all-singing-all-dancing Police Scotland press release. It came out, almost buried, in a BBC News article about the mass poisoning of red kites and buzzards in the Black Isle (see here).

We have several serious concerns about this incident.

First of all, the Police Scotland response. The operator who took the first telephone call didn’t realise that this was a police matter. That’s almost forgiveable – perhaps they were new, inexperienced, whatever. It’s not good enough though – had the member of the public not been clued up enough to know that they could contact the RSPB, this incident would have gone un-investigated and unrecorded.

Of greater concern is the alleged response of PC Charlie Everitt of the NWCU (pictured on the right of this photo, shaking hands with SGA Chairman Alex Hogg as they sign an MOU for greater partnership working on wildlife crime). For those who don’t know, PC Everitt is employed as the Scottish Investigative Support Officer at NWCU and one of his main roles is to focus on raptor persecution. Here is a description of his full role as documented in the Scottish Government’s report Wildlife Crime in Scotland, 2012:

“The Scottish Investigative Support Officer (SISO) plays a significant role in partnership working and is jointly funded by SNH and Police Scotland. The SISO post (held by PC Charles Everitt) focuses on issues of significant threat in Scotland (raptor persecution and the illegal taking of freshwater pearl mussels). In addition, he leads and furthers investigations by providing expert advice, acting as a single point of contact and by providing corroboration to Wildlife Crime Officers” (see here, page 30).

PC Everitt is well aware of the long list of recorded raptor persecution incidents in the Leadhills area, and especially the frequency with which poisoned baits have been found. Here is our list of 44 known reported incidents in this area between 2003-2013. The latest poisoned peregrine becomes #45:

2003 April: hen harrier shot

2003 April: hen harrier eggs destroyed

2004 May: buzzard shot

2004 May: short-eared owl shot

2004 June: buzzard poisoned (Carbofuran)

2004 June: 4 x poisoned rabbit baits (Carbofuran)

2004 June: crow poisoned (Carbofuran)

2004 July: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)

2004 July: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)

2005 February: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)

2005 April: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)

2005 June: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)

2005 June: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)

2006 February: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)

2006 March: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)

2006 March: poisoned pigeon bait (Carbofuran)

2006 April: dead buzzard (persecution method unknown)

2006 May: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)

2006 May: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)

2006 May: poisoned egg baits (Carbofuran)

2006 June: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)

2006 June: poisoned raven (Carbofuran)

2006 June: 6 x poisoned rabbit baits (Carbofuran)

2006 June: poisoned egg bait (Carbofuran)

2006 September: 5 x poisoned buzzards (Carbofuran)

2006 September: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)

2006 September: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)

2007 March: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)

2007 April: poisoned red kite (Carbofuran)

2007 May: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)

2008 October: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran) [listed as ‘Nr Leadhills’]

2008 October: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [listed as ‘Nr Leadhills’]

2008 November: 3 x poisoned ravens (Carbofuran) [listed as ‘Nr Leadhills’]

2009 March: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)

2009 March: poisoned raven (Carbofuran)

2009 April: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)

2009 April: poisoned magpie (Carbofuran)

2009 April: poisoned raven (Carbofuran)

2010 October: short-eared owl shot

2011 March: illegally-set clam trap

2011 December: buzzard shot

2012 October: golden eagle shot (just over boundary with Buccleuch Estate)

2013 June: significant cache of pre-prepared poisoned baits found in woodland next to grouse moor

2013 August: red kite found shot and critically-injured in Leadhills village

Based on the bulging intelligence file available, PC Everitt, the lead intelligence officer for raptor persecution crimes in Scotland, should have immediately suspected this was a potential poisoning incident and should have either attended the scene himself or at the very least, directed a local Wildlife Crime Officer to attend. Why didn’t he? That deserves an inquiry.

Another concern is the pathetic publicity of this incident. Was it a case of ‘this is a good day to bury bad news so let’s sneak it out while everyone’s focusing on the mass poisoning incident in Ross-shire’?, because that’s what it looks like.

However, the biggest concern of all is that here, yet again, is another illegal raptor poisoning incident in the Leadhills area. The scale of these crimes in this one area is phenomenal. The number of criminal convictions in relation to the number of incidents is disgraceful – only two convictions have ever been secured here – and both involved gamekeepers employed on the Leadhills Estate.

With the number of confirmed poisoned raptors in Scotland this year already at 17, no more evidence is required to show that government initiatives and partnership working is wholly ineffective. Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse MUST respond robustly and we must hold him to account.

We urge you to email Mr Wheelhouse and demand the following action:

1. Launch an inquiry into why Police Scotland told a member of the public this was not a police matter, and publish the findings.

2. Launch an inquiry into PC Everitt’s alleged response to this incident, and publish the findings.

3. Launch an inquiry into Police Scotland’s media response to this wildlife crime, and publish the findings.

4. Launch an inquiry into why illegal raptor persecution continues to flourish in the Leadhills area, and publish the findings.

5. Insist that SNH uses the new enabling clause in the General Licences to withdraw their use in the Leadhills area with immediate effect.

6. Insist that Mr Wheelhouse stipulates the exact time scale he intends to use to ‘see whether his new enforcement measures [introduced in July 2013] take effect’.

Environment Minister’s email address: Ministerforenvironment@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Shot peregrine found dead near pheasant pen in Yetminster

From Lauren Jean on Twitter (@lau1180) –

This peregrine was found shot dead near a pheasant pen close to Millennium Woods near Yetminster, Dorset. The discovery has been reported to the police and the RSPB.

perg shot Yetminster March 2014

Wildlife protection laws have had little impact on driven grouse moors

Fearnan Angus Glens Dec 2013There’s an excellent article in the Scotsman today, written by Duncan Orr-Ewing, Head of Species and Land Management at RSPB Scotland.

He discusses the failure of wildlife protection laws to aid the recovery of several raptor species, including the hen harrier, golden eagle, red kite and peregrine, on land managed for driven grouse shooting.

Read the article here.

On a related issue, Mark Avery’s blog today is all about the e-petition for the licensing of grouse moors and gamekeepers (which ends today) – and hints at the growing frustration of those who have been relying on the authorities to ‘sort out’ the illegal persecution of raptors on driven grouse moors. There’s a particularly pertinent comment from Pete Cosgrove:

“Has anyone assessed what other criminal enterprises get ignored by Government in this kind of way?“

There’s a definite ‘something’ in the air…

 

Golden eagle found poisoned on Angus grouse moor

A two-year old golden eagle named ‘Fearnan’ has been found dead on a Scottish grouse moor. He had been poisoned with a banned pesticide. The poison hasn’t been named but we’ll take an educated guess at Carbofuran, the gamekeepers’ poison of choice.

Interestingly, there are three separate press releases about this latest disgraceful crime:

One from the government via PAW (here)

One from the police (here)

One from RSPB Scotland (here)

Usually, we’re lucky to see anything for at least 4-5 months after the crime so it’s somewhat surprising to see the scuffle for media attention on this one. Could this be a sign that Environment Minister Wheelhouse has put his foot down and demanded that timely press statements are released? We can’t think of any other reason why the police should suddenly change their tactics from seemingly apathetic to seemingly responsive.

Of course, regular blog readers will already know that Fearnan is not the only poisoned eagle to have been found dead in the Angus Glens. In fact, there’s been a fair bit of raptor persecution over the last nine years. Here’s a list of incidents we’ve compiled from various published reports:

2004 May, near Edzell: long-eared owl and two short-eared owls starved to death in crow cage trap.  No prosecution.

2004 May, Invermark Estate: peregrine nest destroyed. No prosecution.

2006 March, Glenogil Estate: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2006 April, Easter Ogil: poisoned buzzard (Alphachloralose). No prosecution.

2006 April, Easter Ogil: poisoned tawny owl (Alphachloralose). No prosecution.

2006 May, Glenogil Estate: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2006 June, Glenogil Estate: poisoned woodpigeon bait (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2006 June, Glenogil Estate: Traces of Carbofuran found in estate vehicles & on equipment during police search. No prosecution. Estate owner had £107k withdrawn from his farm subsidy payments. This was being appealed, but it is not known how this was resolved.

2006 July, Millden Estate; poisoned sheepdog (Lindane). No prosecution.

2007 November, Glenogil Estate: Disappearance of radio-tagged white-tailed eagle ‘Bird N’ coincides with tip off to police that bird been shot. No further transmissions or sightings of the bird.

2008 May, ‘Nr Noranside’: poisoned white-tailed eagle ‘White G’ (Carbofuran, Isophenfos, Bendiocarb). No prosecution.

2008 May, ‘Nr Noranside’: poisoned buzzard (Bendiocarb). No prosecution.

2008 May, ‘Nr Noranside’: poisoned mountain hare bait (Carbofuran, Isophenfos, Bendiocarb). No prosecution.

2008 May, Glenogil Estate: 32 x poisoned meat baits on fenceposts (Carbofuran, Isophenfos, Bendiocarb). No prosecution.

2008 October, ‘Glenogil Estate: poisoned meat bait on fencepost (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2009 March, Glenogil Estate: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2009 March, Glenogil Estate: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2009 April, Millden Estate: poisoned buzzard (Alphachloralose). No prosecution.

2009 July, Millden Estate: poisoned golden eagle ‘Alma’ (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2009 August, Glenogil Estate: poisoned white-tailed eagle “89” (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2010 May, ‘Nr Noranside’: poisoned red kite (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2010 September, Glenogil Estate: poisoned buzzard (Chloralose). No prosecution.

2010 October, Glenogil Estate: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2010 October, Glenogil Estate: poisoned pigeon bait (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2010 October, Glenogil Estate: poisoned pigeon bait (Carbofuran). No prosecution.

2011 February, Airlie Estate: buzzard caught in illegal crow trap. (see below)

2011 March, Airlie Estate: 3 x buzzard caught in illegal crow trap. Prosecution (!) but dropped after statement from suspect given to SSPCA deemed inadmissible.

2011 April, Millden Estate: shot buzzard. No prosecution.

2012 April, ‘Nr Noranside’: Remains of buzzard found beside pheasant pen. Suspicious death.

2011 June, Rottal & Tarabuckle Estate: dead kestrel inside crow cage trap. No prosecution.

2012 February, ‘Nr Edzell’: spring-trapped buzzard. No prosecution.

2012 February, ‘Nr Bridgend’: remains of buzzard found under a rock. Suspicious death.

2012 May, Millden Estate: satellite-tagged golden eagle caught in spring trap, then apparently uplifted overnight and dumped on Deeside. No prosecution.

2012 May, Glen Esk: disappearance of sat-tagged red kite. No further transmissions or sightings of bird.

2013 January, Invermark Estate: white-tailed eagle nest tree felled. No prosecution.

2013 November, Glen Lethnot: poisoned golden eagle. Prosecution? Highly unlikely!

We think you’ll agree, this is overwhelming evidence that some people in the Angus Glens are systematically persecuting birds of prey, they have been for many years, and those same people are avoiding criminal justice for their disgusting and illegal activities. We call them The Untouchables.

Why have they been able to avoid prosecution for so long?

Now would be a good time to ask the Environment Minister for an explanation. While you’re at it, please also mention your revulsion about the continued practice of illegal raptor persecution on driven grouse moors. The time for estate licensing is here; the game-shooting industry, quite clearly, cannot or will not self-regulate.  Emails to: ministerforenvironment@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

RIP Fearnan.

posioned GE Lethnot 2013

Gamekeeping orgs’ half-witted attempts to blur the truth

Birdcrime 2012Earlier this month the RSPB published two reports: one detailing raptor persecution crimes in Scotland during 2012 (see here) and one detailing raptor persecution crimes throughout the UK in 2012 (see here).

You’d think that the RSPB’s so-called ‘partners’ in the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) would welcome the reports, highlighting as they do the continued criminal persecution of birds of prey. That’s what PAW partners are all about, right? Raising public awareness and finding ways of cracking down on wildlife crime?

Apparently not.

Here is the response of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation to the RSPB’s UK-wide report. In case they decide to remove it from their website, we’ve reproduced it here:

NGO Comments on the RSPB 2013 Birdcrime Report

Saturday 14th Dec 2013

The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation has issued the following comment on publication of the latest edition of the RSPB Birdcrime Report.

A spokesman for the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation said: “The NGO stands for keepering within the law and automatically condemns illegal activity. That is why the NGO is proud to be a member of PAW – the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime. Furthermore, science has proven gamekeepers to be some of the most effective conservationists working in the British countryside today.

Intriguingly the RSPB’s shrill comments on persecution appear to lack the context that is essential for the public to form its own considered opinion. What the RSPB fails to mention in its news release is that the UK’s bird of prey population, taken as a whole, is thriving, with almost all species at record high levels. 

This seems a curious oversight for a charity required by law to educate the public in a balanced manner. This very important omission is intriguing, given the RSPB’s usually conscientious approach to its work. I believe it is fair to ask whether it’s perhaps to encourage charitable donations to the RSPB in the run-up to Christmas, a time of year when people are quick to put their hands in their wallets?

To view the RSPB 2013 Birdcrime Report News Release visit http://www.rspb.org.uk/media/releases/359085-sixty-years-of-protection-but-the-killing-continues

Good god, where do we start? With the bit about gamekeepers being ‘some of the most effective conservationists working in the British countryside today’?!! Or the bit about how we, the general public, are unable to form our own ‘considered opinion’ because the report apparently ‘lacks context’?!!

How about the statement: “What the RSPB fails to mention in its news release is that the UK’s bird of prey population, taken as a whole, is thriving, with almost all species at record high levels“.

The reason the RSPB ‘failed to mention’ this is probably because it’s a big fat massive distortion of the truth! ‘Almost all species at record high levels‘? That would be ‘almost all species’ apart from golden eagle, white-tailed eagle, hen harrier, red kite, goshawk, peregrine; all of which are being held at unnaturally low population levels thanks to illegal persecution, according to countless scientific studies.

And what on earth does ‘taking the UK’s bird of prey population as a whole‘ mean? Where’s the scientific validity of that? It’s absolutely meaningless pseudo-scientific rubbish! It’s like saying there’s no need to be concerned about the near-extinction of rhinos or elephants in Africa because big mammals ‘as a whole’ are doing ok.

sam4Not to be outdone in the idiot stakes, the NGO’s Scottish colleagues at the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association have published their own statement in response to the RSPB’s Scotland Persecution report.  We’ve reproduced it here:

SGA STATEMENT: RSPB BIRD OF PREY REPORT

Following the release of an unofficial report by the RSPB today on the Illegal Killing of Birds of Prey in 2012, the SGA issued the following response. An SGA Spokesman said: “The RSPB has clearly spent a lot of money in writing this report, which entitles them to put forward their own viewpoint. “With this agenda in mind, it is important, that the public refer to the actual crimes, as published annually by the Scottish Government with information provided officially by the Police and SASA, rather than speculative possible or suspected cases, which are clearly going to confuse the public. “All PAW partners, including ourselves, are fully behind the printing of the official statistics annually, based on actual legal cases, and see no reason why this should change. “While we have been encouraged by the progress made, with the official statistics stating a record of only 3 confirmed cases of illegal poisoning of birds of prey in 2012, reports such as this do little other than damage to on-going partnership efforts designed to reduce crimes against birds of prey. “As stated consistently, the SGA continues to advocate legal means to solving countryside conflicts. Because of this, the clarity and impartiality provided by law is important to us.”

Again, not what you might expect from a PAW ‘partner’. According to the SGA, the public are ‘clearly going to be confused’ by the report’s contents. Really? Is anybody ‘confused’? We’re not – the report presents the facts in the most clear way possible – the illegal persecution of raptors continues to take place on game-shooting estates up and down the country. Our raptors are still being poisoned, trapped, shot, and bludgeoned to death on sporting estates and the majority of the criminals are still avoiding prosecution: we call them The Untouchables.

It’s also interesting to see the SGA continue to peddle the myth that poisoning is in decline. According to our 2013 figures, poisoning in Scotland has actually increased by 66% in this, the Year of Natural Scotland, and that’s not including the discovery of poisoned baits…if we included every single poisoned bait found this year (as each one had the potential to kill at least one raptor had the baits not been discovered and removed), then the figure would jump to a phenomenal 1,333% increase in poisoning!!!

The SGA claims that the RSPB’s report does ‘little other than damage the on-going partnership efforts designed to reduce crimes against birds of prey’. We would argue that the SGA’s continued involvement in the PAW Scotland raptor group, and the NGO’s continued involvement in the English PAW group, does little other than taint the credibility of the PAW concept. In fact it doesn’t just taint it – it soaks it in implausibility. The sooner the other PAW partners realise this and vote these gamekeeping organisations off the panel, the better. PAW is not going to achieve anything as long as some of the ‘partners’ continue to deny and distort the facts. Oh, and harbour convicted wildlife criminals.

North Yorks still worst place for raptor persecution in 2012

The RSPB has published its 2012 Birdcrime report documenting bird persecution throughout the UK.

North Yorkshire has once again come top of the league for the number of reported crimes against birds of prey (34), with Aberdeenshire a close second with 31 reported incidents. Both counties, of course, include large areas of land used for driven grouse shooting.

The 2012 report includes statistics that are all too familiar: confirmed shootings of short-eared owls, sparrowhawks, buzzards, barn owls, tawny owls, hen harriers, golden eagles, marsh harriers, and peregrines; confirmed nest destruction of peregrines, goshawks and barn owls; confirmed illegal spring-trapping of buzzards, golden eagle and peregrine; other types of illegal trapping (including crow cage traps) of sparrowhawks, tawny owls, buzzards and goshawks; and the confirmed illegal poisoning of ravens, red kites, buzzards, golden eagles, marsh harriers, peregrines, cats and dogs.

Remember, these are just the confirmed incidents. Plenty more ‘probable’ and ‘unconfirmed’ cases, and of course there are all the incidents that went undiscovered/unreported.

Does that sound to you like the game-shooting industry is cleaning up its act?

Well done to the RSPB for their meticulous work and especially for their willingness to share these data with the general public.

RSPB press release here

Download the RSPB’s 2012 Birdcrime report here

The photograph shows the shot hen harrier Bowland Betty, found on a North Yorkshire grouse moor in 2012. Nobody has been brought to justice for her death.